Seven-time Bowman Gray champion boosts his lead in season standings to a whopping 60 points over Butner

By Tommy Bowmanl/JOURNAL REPORTER 6/20/2009

Tim Brown's impressive run at Bowman Gray Stadium continued last night.

Brown, a seven-time champion working toward winning an eighth, lost the lead in one of eight double-file restarts in the Tucson 100 but managed to grab it back and go on to his third victory of the season.

Perhaps more impressive is the fact that Brown has finished outside the top five just once in 11 races this season.

Brown called it a "complete" victory, with the only downside being the multitude of restarts and doing so on a sweltering night.

Brown said it didn't help that he was wearing a new race suit that seemed to keep the heat in.

"It doesn't breathe at all," Brown said. "I feel like I'm about to pass out now."

But Brown held on long enough to move into fourth place on Bowman Gray Stadium's all-time list of feature-race winners. He won for the 48th time, and he expanded his already healthy lead in the season standings from 46 to 60 points over Randy Butner at the midway point.

Jason Myers was the fastest in qualifying for the first time in his career in the Modified Division -- achieving that feat on June 13 before rain led to a one-week delay of the Tucson 100.

But it was red-hot Brown who drew the pole position for the race. He started up front with unrelated Jonathan Brown, who had been on a roll of his own with two wins in the past four races.

"It makes me feel complete tonight to know that we finally drew a pole for a 100-lapper and sealed the deal by winning it," Tim Brown said. "What a race car. Jonathan Brown beat the bumper off that thing."

Jonathan Brown also slipped past Tim Brown on the 66th lap, beating him to the first turn and staying up front for nine laps. Tim Brown said that he lost traction, and that Jonathan Brown was aided by the built-up rubber on the track's outside groove.

"I wasn't worried," Tim Brown said. "There were still 30 laps to go."

Jonathan Brown said: "Just to get by Tim on that restart was awesome."

Tim Brown returned the favor on the 70th lap, when he pulled to the outside for a restart and shot past Jonathan Brown.

"Our car was a little too tight and he was a little better right through the middle," Tim Brown said. "But we could pull him up the straightaway."

Jonathan Brown said: "We had a good car. Late in the race, there was a time I actually had the bumper up by his left-rear tire but I'm not going to spin a man to win a race. It was a good run for us, good for points …"

Ronnie Silk, who competes in NASCAR's Whelen Southern Modified Tour, raced for the first time at Bowman Gray Stadium and finished fourth in the 21-car field.

Silk, from Norwalk, Conn., replaced Ted Christopher, another tour driver from Connecticut who planned to drive for car owner Roger Hill a week earlier before the rainout.

"I would have liked to have won, really, but this being my first time here I have to be happy," Silk said. "The car was a little tight but we had a good run. It's a great place to race and I had a lot of fun doing it."

A Whelen Southern Modified Tour race is scheduled for Aug. 1 at Bowman Gray, but Silk said that he won't be able to compete as result of a conflicting race in NASCAR's northern-based Modified tour.

Susan Harwell, the daughter of veteran Modified driver Alfred Hill, and who became a mother in February, competed for the first time this season. She finished 13th.

Ronnie Clifton and Scott Hall won 20-lap races for the Sportsman Division. Joseph "Bobo" Brown was the winner of a 20-lap Street Stock race. Rob Young won the 15-lap main race for four-cylinder Stadium Stock cars.

Clifton, seven-time defending champion in the Sportsman Division, held off Kyle Edwards at the start of the first Sportsman race and led all the way for his second win of the season.

In the second Sportsman race, Hall led all the way and won for the first time this season. Gary Ledbetter held on to his lead in season standings despite a 19th-place finish.